


no such thing as make-believe

by mushroomherb



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: A Lot and Too Sweet I Want to Vomit, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Cuddling & Snuggling, Doctor Hannibal Lecter, Domestic Fluff, Endearments, Established Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter, Feelings, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hannibal Lecter Loves Will Graham, Hannibal Lecter is Not a Cannibal, M/M, Reincarnation, Will Graham Loves Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham is a Merman, Will is Being Kinda Cute doe, merman!will
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:07:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27062413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mushroomherb/pseuds/mushroomherb
Summary: -“Hannibal?”“Yes, my love?”“What happened to the mermaid and her prince, in the end?”Hannibal was silent for a moment. It was obvious to Will he was thinking the answer over.“They lived. Together. Happy and all,” was what came next.A smile etched on Will’s face, there was a lingering doubt that went away with Hannibal’s reassuring eyes.“They lived a long life together?”“Yes, sweetheart. They lived a long, long life together.”-
Relationships: Will Graham & Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter
Comments: 2
Kudos: 46





	no such thing as make-believe

**Author's Note:**

> mermaids and mermen can read thoughts and memories by touching the person. Will was a merman in his past (and present) life, Hannibal was some sort of a court official. Reincarnated to be the Will and Hannibal that we know now. Will, having the ability to erase humans' memories, erased Hannibal's memory when they died, but memories shared between soulmates would always be remembered by the human, in this case, Hannibal. Meanwhile Will's completely erased when he died, reincarnated to be an entirely new soul in the same body.
> 
> as you all know the actual ending of The Little Mermaid, well, Will does not know that since he's a merman living in the middle of the ocean. And, thus, Hannibal lied about that ending.

_“Hannibal?”_

_“Yes, my love?”_

_“What happened to the mermaid and her prince, in the end?”_

_Hannibal was silent for a moment. It was obvious to Will he was thinking the answer over._

_“They lived. Together. Happy and all,” was what came next._

_A smile etched on Will’s face, there was a lingering doubt that went away with Hannibal’s reassuring eyes._

_“They lived a long life together?”_

_“Yes, sweetheart. They lived a long, long life together.”_

\---

 _Water and air bubbles were all over him, they were hot and cold at the same time, burning his lungs as if he was not one made for the deep dark ocean. It might be the spear. The spear through his tail and the blood and–_ Hannibal _. Who was clutching him tightly in his arms, would not let go even for a second, even when the arrows kept coming onto them, so many, too many, they slowed down only slightly because of the water._

_He tried to stir them both further, far away from the boats and the rafts, far away from the still-coming arrows, found it extremely hard to do since they would not stop trying to kill both him and Hannibal. Extremely hard with Hannibal’s almost-dead weight._

Dead weight.

_Hannibal was dying._

_Some many moments ago he had pushed Will off of the cliff in an attempt to save the merman, knowing very well a jump from such high cliff would mean nothing to him. Made Will believe that he would be alright, that he would stay back and had tried to reassure Will with his soothing voice that he’d fight off the evil and his spawns._

_No choice as Hannibal looked at him for what they thought might be the last time, grip slowly loosening from Will’s own hand, pulling reluctantly as Will tried to keep him there. A single tear ran down his cheek, a quiver of lips in fear when Hannibal finally pushed him off, dark eyes nowhere but on blue, ones that was not the sea. Will heard the stones under Hannibal being disturbed when he plummeted to the icy waters._

_He was sure Hannibal would make it. It was Hannibal. Exceptional swordsman and fighter, a just leader for his people, monstrous strength. Nothing would happen to him, right?_

_His heart had not even calmed down in the next minutes he reached the water, swam around in worry when there was still no sign of Hannibal. It was silent, eerily so, nothing could be heard except for the waves and the faraway whales and the winds._

_But then– when he thought he would have gone crazy from waiting, light danced in the distance, ones that were produced from paper lanterns, and that would be the sign Hannibal had made it safely and called for Will to meet him._

_He swam up, excitement all throughout his body, an enormous hope soared high in his chest. Wet mop of curls broke through the ocean water, already smiling and giggling happily, arms ready to pull Hannibal down onto the water and kiss him senseless._

_Only for the smile to be ruined by the sight of_ not _Hannibal_.

 _It_ was _Hannibal._

 _But nothing in Will’s sight indicated that his love was_ safe _._

 _Blood ran down his arms and his body, arrows wounded deep as if he was a target for practice. Hair dishevelled in the worst way possible, damp already with blood and sweat. Both hands tied together in front of his body as he was being_ kicked, shoved _, and made to_ kneel _on the side of the boat, looking at Will with nothing but_ reverence _in his dark eyes, even when he was being tortured as so._

_And for the first time in his long, long life, Will felt as if he couldn’t breathe._

_But_ Hannibal _._

 _Hannibal was breathing hard when he mouthed,_ don’t come near, don’t you dare come near, _head shaking subtly from right to left._

_And ridiculously stupid it was for him to think that Will would bow down to his order._

_“Don’t come near, Will,” Hannibal said, loud enough with all the strength that was left in him, loud enough for the village’s evils to hear and snicker, mocking the dishonoured mayor._

_One of them, Will did not know his name, nor his position, refused to know anything about the people in the village who had captured him, but the man was standing at the front left of Hannibal with his sword drawn, showing Will what he would do to him, green eyes glinted in the night, a devilish grin on his face before he said, “Pathetic, bewitched Lord Lecter,” and the sword was brought down_ fast _in between Hannibal’s tied wrists, cutting off the rope that had bound him. The man looked back at Will, as the others did as well, they shoved Hannibal into the water without remorse._

 _Hannibal was_ incredibly _stupid if he truly believed Will would not come near him._

_Will swam with a speed faster than he had ever swam before, arms drawn out to catch Hannibal’s body before he could drown even more. The blood seeped through Hannibal’s garments and around him, Will was about to bring him away when a spear went right through his tail, slightly to the right, sharp end did not stop piercing through his flesh and made it through Hannibal’s leg._

_The other man grunted and a hand came to Will’s hip, the other on his cheek, holding him as close as possible. He looked up at Hannibal,_ weak _and_ bloody _and_ dying _. But he still smiled. One that he reserved only for Will. One that no one ever seen except for Will._

Always so stubborn, I told you not to come near, _Hannibal mouthed._

_The strong hand cradling his cheek felt strangely warm in the freezing water. He could only look at his love for a second before bringing his lips together with Hannibal’s, that was the only thing Will think he could do, hoping with everything he was that his message was conveyed to the other man._

_Hannibal pulled back gently, holding Will’s gaze with his own and a smile tugged on his mouth. Elegant fingers ran up and down the merman’s cheek, there was nothing in his eyes but love._

My love, my darling. Sunshine of my life. I–

 _That was the last thing Hannibal had ever said to him, whatever the continuation was, it went away with Hannibal. For in the seconds following the declaration, another spear was shot off onto the water, Hannibal coughed up blood when the deadly end of the spear went right to his chest, to his heart,_ dead _._

_Faltered then the strong grip that was holding Will afloat. Faltered then the dark eyes full of warmth and adoration, closed slowly as his body moved with the gentle rocking of the water, down, down._

_Will’s heart stopped beating the first time when Hannibal’s was speared._

_It stopped beating for the second time when he grabbed Hannibal upwards, arms wound tight around him –both as a support and an act of desperate hope, delicate hand reached to the spear still lodged in Hannibal’s chest, he could only kiss Hannibal one last time and pushed the spear forwards until it went through his own heart._

_And at last, they were together again in death._

\---

Waking up felt like being injected with needles for Will lately –blood donation needles, and thousands of them. Especially now that he had reached a one-week mark of not talking to Hannibal, that had started exactly a hundred and sixty-eight hours ago. It felt so cold without Hannibal’s arms around him in the morning. It felt so _lonely_ to wake up to nothing but dusty air and not Hannibal’s lips trailing kisses down his neck.

It felt utterly _disgusting_ to wake up alone without his love.

And yet, Will had tortured himself with it the past week. Had tortured himself from warm endearments that made him blush and nauseated him at the same time, for the endless amount of them there, from loving fingers rubbing up and down his sides in a manner only Hannibal Lecter knew, from firm body encasing him in a tight embrace with zero intention to ever let go.

It was also the seventh time he had woken up from _that_ nightmare.

That came from a long century ago. Memory only his old self remembered, now he too remembered after touching a killer. _His_ killer. _Hannibal’s_ killer. The same one with eyes the colour of seaweeds. The same one who shot spear right through his love’s heart from up the boat.

And so he decided he wanted nothing more of that.

Walked briskly to the far bedroom that he left a week ago, Will paid no mind to manners when he opened the door without knocking first.

Hannibal was crouched down over the bottom of the bed, sheets tidy and neat as he dusted off the soft mattress. Still in expensive pyjama trousers, velvety red, glimmered when the sun hit the colour. He looked back with risen eyebrows and smiled lightly at Will.

“Good morning, my love,” as if nothing was the problem. As if he had not been blatantly ignored and disrespected in his own home by Will.

Hannibal straightened up, turned his toned body around to fully focus on curly head full of childishness, a thing he had not expected to be _fond_ of in someone. Maybe it was just because Will, though. He took two steps closer to the shorter man, the smile stayed, the risen eyebrows also stayed. Will followed his lead.

“Are you hungry, my love? I was about to make breakfast, perhaps you have something in mi–“

Words cut short when he was being hugged tightly. Will rested his head comfortably on a strong chest, breathed in deeply for he had missed Hannibal’s scent _too_ much the past week, made himself even more comfortable by kissing around Hannibal’s clothed collarbone. There was a needy and _adorable_ whine when Hannibal still did not reciprocate his embrace.

“Hug me, Hannibal,” like that of a child asking to be picked up.

It was _utterly_ adorable that the older man jolted up, as if he just got awakened from a trance. Arms went up quick around Will’s body, one palm resting on the back of his head, caressing the curls affectionately, as though it was a punishment for him for not hugging the merman back for a few silent seconds.

Will felt kisses being peppered on top of his head, down to his temples, back up to his curls again, arms getting tight around his body and he questioned himself how the hell did he ever think of _going away_ from the warmth that was _this_ man.

And then he pulled away gently, fingers still clutched tight on Hannibal’s sleepwear, looking up to meet eyes as dark as the dusk sky, trying to find anger or disappointment in them for the way he had treated the man but found none. Hannibal Lecter moved to adjust some stray curls adorned over his sweetheart’s face, Will smiled and Hannibal could not help but follow.

“Come back to bed with me?” the merman asked, eyebrows raising a minuscule distance for he was still wary were Hannibal would want nothing to do with him right now, after the frustrating week that had passed.

But Hannibal’s smile only spread wider, he bestowed another kiss upon Will’s forehead before answering, “Of course, Mylimasis, of course.”

\---

It was noon already when Will woke up the second time. And it was to a slope of neck he had come to know very well this time, to a scent he would never forget even if he was to be thrown in a throng of people, to a deep rumble originated from firm chest that he liked to explore on occasions.

A small smile tugged on his face when he practically watched the moment that Hannibal woke up. This slight twitch of nose, smooth transition of unconscious slumber to fully awake only noticeable by someone who had spent a long, long time with the doctor.

Small distance was then created between their bodies when Hannibal backed away a little, eyes fixed on his love as if nothing worth the time to be looked upon but Will.

“Hello again, my love,” he said, subtle smugness in his tone.

Will wanted to jab his chest for it, although he changed the plan to just cupping the other man’s jaw, felt the area where stubble had been growing, it was certainly a _good_ look on him.

“Hey,” Will greeted back, somewhat shyly, dark eyes looking at him too intensely, although it was not unwelcomed.

A moment of silence passed, both content of just being _boys_ and smiling and kissing each other in the sun that was surely getting hotter by each second.

It was of a need of air when they parted, and Will’s sweet voice rang through in the room.

“I’m sorry, Hannibal,” heart beat a little faster when he said that, not sure why.

There was a sigh as Will waited, “I’m sorry for not being truthful to you, my love.”

Dark curls moved frantic, head shaking, noises of disapproval clear in the air, Will tightened his hold on Hannibal’s chest, “I should’ve listened to you first,” he paused, eyes flitting back to the doctor’s so the meaning of his words would clearly be delivered, “I don’t like waking up without you. It’s cold, it’s uncomfortable. I don’t want to wake up without you ever again.”

Hannibal was silent at that. Blinking rapidly while holding back something akin to _stupid grin._ One corner of Will’s mouth turned upwards when he realised the ever-eloquent man was in loss of speech, heart swelled at the thought that he was the one to cause it.

And so they kissed again. And again. And again. Until it hurt them both, since the smiles were of obstinate lineages, refusing to go away from their faces and they had to take lungful of oxygen. A little bit of a shame, really, that they had to separate again even only for a fraction of time.

“How did you find out, Will?” Hannibal asked, after a moment. Will took a breather before answering.

“I told you about the guy in the museum, right? The security?”

They went to a museum opening three weeks before. Bedelia, a friend of Hannibal’s from the socialite circle was the owner, had asked Hannibal to bring Will along to the event. A date night turned sour in the end, at least for Hannibal, for he had to lie, bold-face, to his sweetheart. One that he said in an attempt to soothe his own mind, daresay it was a make-believe, nothing as vile as to trick.

Hannibal thought for a few more seconds before the particular memory of some dark-haired, green-eyed man clicked in his brain, “Yes. You said his name was Matthew. Something. Matthew Something.”

Will nodded and answered, “Brown, Matthew Brown. But, not important,” a dismissive hand gesture as he said this.

Wetting his lips, he continued, “Somehow his face seemed familiar to me, it was like I had seen him before, you know that type of face where it is just etched in your memory? Well, I got curious. So when you went out of town a week ago, I went back there,” Hannibal sent a disapproving glint of eyes at that, Will had to suppress the urge to roll his eyes.

“I went back there,” a pause, hesitant to tell more about the story, “apparently Matthew had expected me to come back. Said something about me being familiar to him also, which was stupid and _weird_ , since I never met him before.”

One light eyebrow raised at Will, prompting without pressuring, it was one of Hannibal’s specialty.

Will’s voice dropped slightly lower when he resumed his words, afraid the doctor would _actually_ rage and kill somebody after hearing what he was about to say.

“He suspected already. Of me not being a human.”

Hannibal let out a puff of breath, laced heavily with suppressed-anger.

“He was about to attack me, cornering me to an empty area of the museum. Even ready with water, in oil drums. So I got to him first, Hannibal. And that was when,” _when he intruded on an old memory, cliff and freezing water, arrows and spears, boats, rafts, blood and Hannibal. It was when he realised the lie Hannibal had spout out just the week before. When he realised, that an ending such as happily ever after was only a make-believe._

Silence stretched in the air, two pairs of starkly different colours stared at one another. Two heartbeats and three, it was finally Hannibal’s voice that went through with the warm sun.

“Do you regret it?”

Will furrowed his eyebrows as he answered with another question, “Do I regret what?”

“Meeting me, coming with me, moved away from the comfort of your home, being together with me here. Do you regret it, Mylimasis?”

A montage in the merman’s mind, of how he had met Hannibal, of how easy it was to be entranced by the charms in each of Hannibal’s words, no doubt in his heart as he followed the man to the city, growing closer each passing day, being treated as if he was the only worthy treasure in the whole world. Being protected every second of the day. Being _loved_ so fiercely. The answer to that was clear.

“How could I regret that, Hannibal?” Will answered.

Hannibal’s eyelids closed for a second before they opened again, a look of something best described as _fond exasperation_ heavily latched on angular face, masculine fingers danced around Will’s hair before they settled comfortably on his cheek, rubbing up and down with the thumb absently, lovingly.

“That’s how I feel too, when I found out. When I remembered how our fate ended. No matter how hard I tried to think about it, meeting you, William, was something I would never regret. I don’t even have it in me to think, even for a split second, that I regret having you in my arms,” finished with a self-deprecating chuckle, short one, as if to knock some sense into himself, of ever thinking that it was best to lie to his love.

“I’m sorry for being audacious enough to lie to you, Will.”

That prompted a smile on Will’s face, who had been in a trance with Hannibal’s words flowing through his ears, accent lurking in the background, _pretty_ and bewitching like a symphony from the Baroque opera, stuck inside his veins. Guess it was really _that_ easy to be embraced in Hannibal’s strong arms. Physically, mentally.

It didn’t raze the enormous fear in his heart, though.

“But what if you die because of me, Hannibal? Again, maybe not for the second time, maybe for the third time, mayb–”

Silenced with a pair of lips against his own. A moment to let himself be comfortable, another moment to let his mind clear up, Hannibal looked intently at him, nothing in his eyes other than the pair saying: he was _utterly besotted_.

“Even if that were to happen, even if I am to be nowhere near you, isn’t it obvious that I will continue loving you, Mylimasis?”

And did Will had nothing to answer to that, nothing but another kiss that he hoped was enough, enough to match the burst of fervour coming from Hannibal.

Will pulled back in an instant when he remembered something, inducing a dumbfounded stare from the other man, but he had to ask, had to know, had to be reassured again.

“Please don’t lie to me again, Hannibal?”

A flicker of guilt ran through Hannibal’s eyes, he had already decided to never do such a thing again, but even with all the languages he was fluent in, he could do nothing but say, “I am never lying to you ever again, my darling.”

Such words with immeasurable genuineness was enough for Will to close the distance between them again.

\---

_My love, my darling, sunshine of my life. I will always love you._

_\---_

**Author's Note:**

> ah, thank you for reading. I hope this is not too much confusing, this is practically from another Korean drama called The Legends of the Blue Sea. also I'm sorry for making Matthew as the evil again... I don't know why but he just fits the character really well, sorry haha.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this piece, have a great day!


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